I would not recommend putting a crape myrtle in that location. You would have to prune it to keep it in check and yearly pruning of crape myrtles just makes for a hideously ugly tree over the winter. Plus, I think crape myrtles are overused.

Though it doesn't blossom, a Japanese Maple would look very nice and keep a compact shape, perfect for that location.

Or, consider a white Althea. These bloom like crazy here in North Texas.

Callie
http://www.xylemandphloem.com

Being that this is right next to the front door a Althea also known as rose of sharon goes dormant in winter.
Something evergreen looking up on texas smartscape here is what I found.

Glossy Abelia Botanical Name: Abelia x grandiflora Height 6 feet spread 6 feet.Evergreen white to pinkish flowers from June to Oct.

Frances Mason Abelia
Botanical Name: Abelia grandiflora 'Francis Mason'
Height 3 to 4 feet spread 3 feet.Evergreen pink flowers June to Oct.

Magic Carpet Spiraea
Botanical Name: Spiraea japonica 'Magic Carpet'
Height 18 to 24 inches spread same Deciduous pink red flowers May to Oct.

You didn't say what height your looking for so I just tried looking up something's that might be of interest.

Barb

Acoma crape myrtle only gets about 6' tall and has a pretty weeping form. You wouldn't have to prune it.

Callie - It's funny you should mention the Japanese Maple. We just had a different landscaper here and I asked for his suggestions, but this time I didn't mention that I want something white. He suggested the Japanese Maple. I'm still picturing more of a shrub than a tree, but I do love the reddish color of the Japanese Mape so I'm going to think about it.

Barb - I was thinking of something about 4 feet tall. I'll check out the ones you mentioned.

Laurie

That is a great spot for a good focal point. While I am really fond of the Acoma Crepe Myrtle (It has a growth pattern that gives it almost an oriental look), I would consider an Anacacho Orchid. It is a very hardy, care-free native that blooms twice per year, spring and fall. The tree itself is beautiful, and the blooms smell great. Next to the door, that would be a great benefit. I think it looks best as a small tree and will grow to about 10 feet or so. It is not very commonly used, so it would be a great conversation piece, as well.

If you are set on a shrub, try Grecian Pattern Plant, if you can get it. It stands out well on its own as a shrub for a focal point. The foliage is beautiful, and it has a whitish spike bloom that is just stunning. If you use this one, keep an eye on it in the summer heat to make sure it isn't getting scorched. Treating occasionally with Liquid Seaweed can help.

Another option would be to use Agave. Again, they are great at standing out in a bed, and they are very low maintenance. With your existing landscape I would recommend one of the smaller varieties, but the Blue Agave would look great, so long as you don't mind it having it removed and replaced with a younger specimen every five or six years.

I would recommend staying away from any of the hedge-type shrubs, as they will tend to either blend in with the existing hedge or look like they were planted mistakenly.

On the subject of crepe myrtles, I definitely recommend pruning them, so long as you are pruning selectively from the bottom up, and not 'topping' or pruning from the top down. While it is fine to prune off the old seed heads at the end of the season, hacking the tops off can open them up to problems in the future. If you start with a variety that only gets to the height that you want, you should never have to top them.

Happy Planting!

Jeff Rodgers
Blue Collar Gardeners

Here is a link that might be useful: Blue Collar Gardeners Podcast

The house we bought has a crepe myrtle planted about where your holly is and it is too close to the house and looks ugly the way we had to cut it. It hits the roof and gutters now that it has gotten older. I'm sure it looked fine when originally planted.

Thanks, Jeff. I've been wondering if that would be a good spot for an Oakleaf hydrangea. The only thing I'm not sure about is it gets late afternoon sun. The picture I found of Grecian Pattern Plant kind of reminds me of the Oakleaf hydrangea. I have a feeling I may have a hard time finding it, but I may make the nursery rounds and see if I can find it, just so I can see what the Grecian Pattern Plant looks like in person. I went to two different Calloways today just to see if I could find a small bush or weeping Crepe Myrtle with white flowers, but they didn't have one.

Since you're a landscaper, do you have a favorite variety of Crepe Myrtle that stays between 5' and 8'? We have some in our backyard that we never trimmed and they got way too big for our little yard, so we ended up topping them a couple of years ago. Now, we have to do it every year to keep them from getting big again. We're thinking about just taking them out and putting a variety in that will be a better size for our space.

Laurie

Well, never mind on the Oakleaf hydrangea. I posted on the hydrangea forum and they told me it looks ugly in the winter and I shouldn't put it by my front door.

Jeff - Does the Grecian Pattern Plant look good in the winter?

Laurie

We have a crepe myrtle right on the corner of our house, one of the bright pink ones. It's probably 18 feet tall now or taller. I don't understand the severe pruning people do to crepes. It's not necessary and it just weakens it, if it's the tree form.

That being said, it is important to shape it up as it grows, so that it's not some big huge mess, like some of them I see. Seems like they're either big spread out raggedy messes no one ever trained as a tree or sad four foot tall totally lopped off leafless trunks.

Somewhere in between is the best. Mine has been pretty much maintenance free. It's starting to touch the roof on both our house and our neighbor's house (the lateral branches are drooping with the weight of the blooms), so we'll have to prune those branches in the fall, but other than that, I do nothing to it but keep the bottom 5-6 feet smooth and trimmed of any suckers, etc.

MikeandBarb suggested Abelias. They are great plants, bloom almost all year, however they are bee/yellow jacket/wasp magnets! I don't think I would put one close to a front door. A varigated chinese privit would look good and meet your space/color requirements(though it's very commom.) What about a nice white floribunda shrub rose with an underplanting of annuals? It is pretty much evergreen in our climate and blooms at least 9 months of the year in my zone 7b garden, probably would bloom longer in your area. Another idea is Osmanthus (sweet olive). There are several varieties that would work for you and their fragrance is amazing in the fall/winter months. Hope you find what you are looking for!

I think you should consider a yucca tree. We are in Houston and have one in our front yard and it is quite stunning. Our drainage isn't very good so I think it doesn't have to be in a raised bed. Our yucca is now about 10 ft tall. It was here when we purchased our home 12 years ago. It was about 6 ft then so it doesn't grow rapidly.

Ours has three trunks to it which makes it look especially nice. If I were planting one, I think I would buy more than one plant and plant together so I could have multiple trunks starting out though I think most develop multiple trunks as they grow older.

I will include a link below but this is only a picture of one that is rather young. The leaves are not the kind that will stick you. I don't know if you can buy them when they are mature but I think it would be worth the price to get a larger one.
http://www.magnoliagardensnursery.com/productdescrip/Yucca_Soft.html
The white blooms are very exotic, ours has bloomed a couple of times this year (perhaps once on each trunk) and the large blooms last quite a long time, perhaps a month.

Drive around your neighborhood to see if you can find a mature one in someone's yard to view. Wish I had a picture to post.

If not a yucca, another suggestion would be for you to consider a camelia sasanqua. A plant that a landscaper recommended for the other side of my front yard from the Yucca. My front yard is on the North side but does get a fair amount of sun, especially since my Holly tree died a couple of years ago (too little water when we fixed our plumbing leaks, LOL).

Good luck.

There is very little that requires no pruning or upkeep, in an urban environment.

Crepe Myrtle requires pruning only once, in the late fall, and you are done.